Welcome online courses

Europe’s higher-education institutions are perhaps confronting their biggest crisis ever. A sag in state funding and the mismatch between research output and the need to drive innovation-led growth are converging to create a ‘gathering storm’.

For the European economy, let alone its higher-education sector, the stakes could hardly be higher.

In the midst of this turbulence, there is little doubt of the growing importance of digital education to the future of European prosperity.

Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for the digital agenda, last month reiterated her goal of making “every European digital”, setting out a vision in which information and communications technology in the classroom will be “so commonplace, so unremarkable, so integral to learning, that people cannot think of the classroom without it”.

This is the right starting point. However, an even more radical approach is needed if Europe is truly to succeed in the digital economy and if the Commission is to succeed in its ambition to increase the number of Europeans with a tertiary education from 26% to 40% by 2020. A more radical approach could also provide fresh encouragement to use the internet to the remaining quarter of the continent’s population who remain offline.

Online learning

A key part of the answer lies in Europe embracing, much more fully, onliine learning, or the so-called ‘open education resources’ (OER) revolution. This has become an unstoppable global phenomenon since the Massachussetts Institute of Technology started publishing educational resources online as OpenCourseWare (OCW) in 2001.

OER and other forms of digital learning may not be effective for all types of education. For example, OER will not easily replace a laboratory practical or social training. However, some types of virtual learning methods are as effective as live teaching, perhaps even more effective.

Since the OCW consortium was formally founded, more that 250 institutions have joined, including the university of which I am the secretary-general (Delft University of Technology). Today, OCW, which is the largest OER organisation in the world, offers 20,000 courses online and millions of learners across the world.

While the digital learning revolution began in the United States, Europe is now finding its feet. Given the high stakes, it is vital that Europe now assumes the vanguard of this educational revolution.

A threat?

However, for Europe to fully seize the opportunity, there is need for enhanced support from Brussels, member states and, indeed, a sea-change within Europe’s higher-education sector.

Key initiatives such as last year’s ‘modernising higher education in the EU’ strategy presented by the European Commission, and the Commission’s e-Inclusion Awards, are a great start. But, more is needed to improve take-up of online learning.

One key challenge is making more of our higher-education institutions ‘fit for purpose’ for the digital age. Whereas they used to have a knowledge monopoly in higher education, they now share their role in developing and spreading knowledge with many other institutions and individuals.

Some in the higher-education community fear that their institutions will increasingly become certification factories if information is available freely for all and if the learning community can be found online. The concern is that students will study online for free, after which they will shop around for higher-education institutions that are willing to test to a given standard and – if they pass – provide them with an appropriate diploma.

I do not see why this is a threat, especially given Europe’s ambition to increase dramatically the percentage of its population with a tertiary education. Online learning offers the opportunity to teach many more students than we do now: a higher-education institution could potentially have one million students, including lifelong learners who find it difficult to take part in on-campus courses, instead of the typical 10,000 currently.

The business case for higher-education institutions would be different, of course, forcing them to change from a system of tuition fees to one of course-completion or certification fees. However, as long as they have a thorough system of testing and provide high-reputation certified diplomas, offering online learning might even be an advantage, allowing more time for other institutional work, such as research.

For some, the real danger is if higher-education institutions lose their monopoly on certification. The answer here must be to enhance the quality and reputation of Europe’s institutions. Students generally attend an institution not only because they want to learn something, but also because a diploma helps them with their future career. The greater the reputation of the certifying institution, the more valuable the diploma will be.

Going forwards, people may well be less willing to pay for tuition at an institution with a poor reputation, preferring to attend a free, virtual one. They will continue to pay, however, for a diploma or certificate from high-quality institutions. These diplomas prove reliably what they have learned and at which level, providing a valuable ticket for a future career.

In general, the European higher-education sector thus has little reason to view OER as a threat. On the contrary, OER can help provide education to rapidly increasing numbers of Europeans, and potentially new revenue streams from others across the world, based on Europe’s long-standing reputation for high-quality knowledge and teaching.

Anka Mulder is the secretary-general of Delft University of Technology and global president of OpenCourseWare. The world’s first Open Education Week was held in Delft on 5-10 March.